Grader blade lifting link



- Sept. 16, 1958 A. A. BANEK 2,851,904

GRADER BLADE LIFTING LINK Filed Nov. 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. BY Albert A. Bqnek ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1958 A. A. BANEK GRADER BLADE LIFTING LINK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 12, 1954 Fig. 7

INVENTOR.

- ATTORNEY Fig. 6

live nited States Patent I 2,851,904 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 2,851,904 GRADER BLADE LIFTING LINK Albert A. Banek, Greeley, Colo. Application November 12, 1954, Serial No. 468,230 4 Claims. (Cl. 74583) As a development from and an improvement over the subject matter of my pending application for Letters Patent of the United States filed on June 2, 1952, Serial No. 291,184, this invention relates to blade lifting and support links of the general typeextensively utilized in powered grader, scraper, and maintainer equipment for altitudinal positioning and adjustment of a blade member relative to the surface worked thereby, and has as an object to provide novel and improved such links employable with advantage in substitution for the conventional analogous members.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and operatively advantageous combination of elements constituting agrader blade lifting and support link.

A further object of the invention is to provide a'novel and operatively advantageous construction andcorrelation of elements in and as a grade blade lifting and support link.

A further object of the invention is to provide-a novel and improved grader blade lifting and support link that is resiliently length variable in automatic reaction to conditions encountered by the associated blade and adapted for alternative fixed unit.

A further object of the invention is to provide a' novel and improved resiliently length variable grader blade lifting and. support link conditioned to damp and to minimize the effect of shocks and impacts imposed thereon.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangementyand operative combination of elements as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated by the a ccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a typical, simple link construction exemplifying the principles of the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the organization according to Figure 1.

Figure 3 is 'a-section axially throughand taken substantially on the indicated line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 isa side elevation, partially in section, of an alternativeembodiment of the invention structurally and operatively equivalent to that shown in the preceding views.

Figure 5 is a crosssection taken on the indicated line 55 of Figure'4.

Figure 6 is a section axially through another alternaembodiment of the invention functionally equivalent to and structurally distinguishedfrom the organizations according to the preceding views.

Figure 7 isa section "similar to Figure 6'illustrating a modified arrangement and operative correlation of essential 1 elements.

Figure 8 is a cross section taken on theindicated line 8+3 of Figure 6.

As is fully explained in my earlier application, above noted, powered grader, scraper, and maintainer equipment is characterized by a blade carried by and anguconditioning as a rigid, lengthlarly adjustable relative to a mount tractively associated with the frame of a vehicle and susceptible of altitudinal adjustment through the agency of cranks, or the equivalent, which are connected at each side of the vehicle with the mount, or directly with the blade, by means of links. The blade lifting and support links are corrventionally rigid, length-adjustable members operable to unyieldably hold the of altitudinal adjustment. However, in many operations and in many use conditions to which the equipment is applied, it is an operative and economic advantage to suspend the blade, or the blade mount, from the means for altitudinal adjustment thereof in such manner as to float the blade relative to the surface being worked and for resilient upward yielding and return to adjusted position with a minimum of shock and impact effect, hence the instant invention is directed to the provision of a resiliently length variable blade lifting and support link adapted to absorb and to minimize the efifect of shocks and impacts, arranged for selective conditioning as a rigid, fixed length member, and susceptible of ready substitution for conventional analogous units.

In a structural organization somewhat similar to certain disclosures of my earlier application, the improvement as represented by Figures 1, 2 and 3 is constituted as a tubular barrel 10 having one closed end worked, as to the form of a ball-and-socket fitting 11, for operative attachment to a member, such as a crank 12, of-the grader, scraper, or maintainer equipment, slots 13 are registered diametrically through and longitudinally intersecting walls of the barrel lfl'adjacent the closed end of the latter. A sleeve 14 is threadedly engaged with and exteriorly'about the open end of the barrel 10 in registration of its bore with and as a continuation of the bore of the barrel to provide an annular collar 15 outstanding exteriorly about the barrel adjacent the open end thereof, anda cylindrical plunger 16 is slidable Within and ball-and-socket fitting 17, is on the exterior end of the connection to a grader blade or blade mount. A pin 18 extends diametrically through the end of the plunger 16 within the barrel 10 and .projects at each side of the said plunger through the slots 13 radially of and beyond the exterior surface of the barrel, and an expansive coil spring 19 is'telescoped about the barrel 10 in end-bearing engagement between the collar 15 and ends of the pin 18 to normally urge the plunger 16 to the limit of its travel inwardly of the barrel as determined by engagement of the pin 18 with the ends of the slots 13 most nearly adjacent end. To condition the link assembly for use at times as a rigid, fixed length strut, holes diametrically of the sleeve 14 and plunger 16 are disposed for registration when the said plunger is at the'inward limit of its travel relative to the barrel for the accommodation, when so registered, of a locking pin 20 securable therein in any expedient manner to inhibit travel of the plunger'relative to the barrel.

With the fittings 13 and 17 connected to the appropriate members of the equipment, the link assembly shown and described is mounted for use in a conventional manner and functions asa customary rigid, length fixed strut for the lifting and support of the blade in its various positions of altitudinal adjustment. Removal of the locking pin 20 frees the plunger 16 for reciprocation within the barrel 10 and for limited travel outwardly of the barrel against thepressure of the spring-19, in which condition the link functions as a resiliently length variable unit to support the blade in its various positions of adjustment with the blade weight resiliently carried by blade in a determined position the barrel closed I the spring in the manner and for the purposes set forth in my earlier application.

To complete the link assembly represented by Figures 1-3 to give effect to the principles and to realize the advantagesof'the invention, a stem 21 is fixed to and outstands radially from the barrel adjacent the closed end thereof in spaced, parallel relation with a similar stem 22 fixedly outstanding radially from the plunger 16 exteriorly adjacent the sleeve 14 when the plunger is at the limit of its travel inwardly of the barrel, and a shock absorber unit 23, of any appropriate type and construction, is engaged at its ends with said stems 21 and 22 and thereby mounted to span between the stems in spaced parallelism with the barrel 10 to function in an obvious manner to minimize and to damp the effect of shocks and impacts imposed through the blade on and to relatively shift the plunger and barrel members of the link. The unit 23 may be of hydraulic, pneumatic, or mechanical type, as may be deemed expedient or desirable, it may be arranged to apply damping effect in either one, or both, directions of relative barrel and plunger travel, and it is illustrated as a cylinder 24 having one closed end with an attaching eye -25 thereon, a hollow piston 26 fitted for coaxial reciprocation within said cylinder and provided with an attaching eye 27 on its closed end exterior to the cylinder, a metering fiow aperture 28 through the piston end within the cylinder, and a bellows sleeve 29 engaged at its ends with the cylinder and piston to close over the joint therebetween.

The embodiment of the invention represented by Fig ures 4 and S is functionally identical with and structurally only slightly different from that shown in Figures l3 and hereinabove described and incorporates the features and advantages of the invention as a relatively longer length variable link characterized by alternative attaching means suited for installation on and use with certain equipment constructions. In the alternative embodiment, a barrel 10' somewhat longer than the barrel 10 is provided with slots 13' longer than the slots 13 and is operatively associated, as hereinabove described, through the agency of the pin 18 and sleeve 14 having the collar with a plunger 16 longer than the plunger 16 which is urged to the limit of its travel inwardly of the associated barrel by a spring 19 longer than the spring 19. Differing from the first disclosure, the attachment means of the alternative embodiment are shown as axially bored and internally threaded studs 30, of reduced diameter coaxially and oppositely extending from the closed end of the barrel 10' and from the free end of the plunger 16' for connection, as by means of cap screws 31, with socketed members 32 of the equipment to which the link is applied, and the stems 21 and 22 of the first disclosure are replaced by Z-shaped bracket arms 33 and 34 fixed, respectively and in a common plane radially of the plunger and barrel assembly, to and adjacent the closed end of the barrel 10 and to the plunger 16 with their offset ends remote from the points of attachment oppositely directed and approached for engagement with the eyes at the opposite ends of the shock absorber unit 23 to thereby operatively mount said unit in position to function with the link assembly as above set forth.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 represent alternative and modified damped variable length link constructions wherein the shock absorber arrangement is directly included in the link assembly itself and susceptible of convenient adjustment to regulate and to vary its damping effect. As shown in Figures 6 and 8, a cylinder 33 is formed with one closed end from which extends a coaxial stem 34 that terminates in an attachment fitting 35 and a piston 36 fixed to one end of a coaxial piston rod 37 that ter- 'minates in a fitting 38 is fitted for reciprocation within said cylinder with the rod 37 directed away from the cylinder closed end. A cap 39 detachably engages with and closes the otherwise open end of the cylinder 33 and is formed with an annular skirt 40 exterior to the cylinder 'barrel having one open end and through which opens a central aperture slidably accommodative of the rod 37, and holes diametrically of said skirt and red are provided for registration when the piston 36 approaches the closed end of the cylinder to then receive a locking pin, not shown, whereby travel of the piston and its rod relative to the cylinder is inhibited. Within the cylinder 33 and loosely about the rod 37, an expansive coil spring 41 extends between and bears at its ends against opposed faces of the piston 36 and cap 39 to yieldably urge said piston toward the closed end of the cylinder. The interior of the cylinder 33 being closed to atmosphere, there is a consequent resistance to travel of the piston relative to the cylinder when the assembly is mounted and conditioned for use as a length variable link, as hereinabove explained, and such resistance to piston travel is enhanced when the cylinder is charged, as through a plugged port 42, with liquid filling the cylinder space at both sides of the piston. To free the piston for damped, regulatable reciprocation withinits cylinder, a by-pass line 43 leads through a metering valve 44 to open at one end into the cylinder interior between the piston 36 and the closed end of the cylinder and at its other end to open into the cylinder interior between the said piston and the cap 39, whereby displacement of the piston axially of the cylinder in either direction is accommodated at a rate determined by flow of fluid, either air or liquid, through the by-pass as permitted by adjustment of the valve 44. Obviously, the valve 44 may be adjusted to regulate the shock absorber effect of the organization, to permit positioning of the piston axially of the cylinder, and to lock the piston in any adjusted position against displacement axially of the cylinder, particularly when the cylinder is charged with liquid, such as oil, to function as an hydraulic unit.

The organization according to Figure 7 differs from that shown in Figures 6 and 8 only in that a resilient buffer 45 is interposed between the cylinder closed end and the adjacent face of the piston 36 to hold the piston away from travel across the end of the by-pass line opening into the cylinder adjacent the closed end thereof and to prevent impact of the piston against the cylinder closed end, in that the metering valve 44 in the line 43 is replaced by a shut-off valve 46, and in that the metering functions of the replaced valve 44 are transferred to a removable and replaceable metering jet element 47 in the wall of the cylinder and in flow-controlling relation with either end of the line 43.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claims, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

1. A grader blade lifting link comprising a tubular barrel having one open end and a closed opposite end mounting an attachment fitting, a cylindrical plunger longer than said barrel substantially filling and extending outwardly through the open end of the latter adapted for limited axial reciprocation and selective immobilization relative to the barrel, an attachment fitting fixed to the outer end of said plunger, an expansive coil spring exteriorly about said barrel adapted to yieldably urge said plunger to the limit of its travel inwardly of the barrel and operable to resiliently oppose separation of said attachment fittings throughout the range of plunger and barrel relative reciprocation, and a shock-absorbing unit of fiuid type adapted to damp and cushion oscillations of said spring exteriorly paralleling said barrel 'between and in operative connection at its ends with fixedly-related elements of said barrel and the plunger portion exterior thereto, respectively.

2. A grader blade lifting link comprising a tubular a closed opposite end mounting an attachment fitting, a cylindrical plunger longer than said barrel substantially filling and extending outwardly through the open end of the latter adapted for limited axial reciprocation and selective immobilization relative to the barrel, an attachment fitting fixed to the outer end of said plunger, an expansive coil spring exteriorly about said barrel adapted to yieldably urge said plunger to the limit of its travel inwardly of the barrel and operable to resiliently oppose separation of said attachment fittings throughout the range of plunger and barrel relative reciprocation, brackets fixed respectively to and outstanding from said barrel and the plunger portion exterior thereto in a common radial plane longitudinally of the barrel and plunger assembly, and a shockabsorbing unit of fluid type adapted to damp and cushion oscillations of said spring exteriorly paralleling said barrel between and in operative connection at its ends with said brackets.

3. In a grader blade lifting link having a tubular barrel formed with an open end and a closed opposite end mounting an attachment fitting, a cylindrical plunger longer than said barrel substantially fitting and extending outwardly through the open end of the latter adapted for limited axial reciprocation and selective immobilization relative to the barrel, an attachment fitting fixed to the outer end. of said plunger, and an expansive coil spring exteriorly about said barrel adapted to yieldably urge said plunger to the limit of its travel inwardly of the barrel and operable to resiliently oppose separation of said attachment fittings throughout the range of plunger and barrel relative reciprocation, the improvement which comprises a shock-absorbing unit of fluid type adapted to damp and cushion oscillations of said spring exteriorly paralleling said barrel between and in operative connection at its ends with fixedly-related elements of said barrel and the plunger portion exterior thereto, respectively.

4. In a grader blade lifting link having a tubular barrel formed with an open end and a closed opposite end mounting an attachment fitting, a cylindrical plunger longer than said barrel substantially filling and extending outwardly through the open end of the latter adapted for limited axial reciprocation and selective immobilization relative to the barrel, an attachment fitting fixed to the outer end of said plunger, and an expansive coil spring exteriorly about said barrel adapted to yieldably urge said plunger to the limit of its travel inwardly of the barrel and operable to resiliently oppose separation of said attachment fittings throughout the range of plunger and barrel relative reciprocation, the improvement which comprises brackets fixed respectively to and outstanding from said barrel and the plunger portion exterior thereto in a common radial plane longitudinally of the barrel and plunger assembly, and a shock-absorbing unit of fluid type adapted to damp and cushion the oscillations of said spring exteriorly paralleling said barrel between and in operative connection at its ends with said brackets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 620,164 Mumford et al Feb. 28, 1899 643,240 Shuart Feb. 13, 1900 649,882 Weed May 15, 1900 668,007 Capps Feb. 12, 1901 682,536 Duncanson Sept. 10, 1901 765,832 Hamilton July 26, 1904 957,315 Duncanson May 10, 1910 1,395,971 Okell Nov. 1, 1921 1,504,490 Mason Aug. 12, 1924 1,511,173 McCarthy Oct. 7, 1924 1,630,199 Megnin May 24, 1927 2,090,246 Alexander Aug. 17, 1937 2,323,352 Pitts July 6, 1943 2,471,244 Self May 24, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 412,338 France July 9, 1910 

